Blazers could look to trade former first-round pick

Portland Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III (35).

Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III won’t play again this season after undergoing knee surgery in November, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s off the table in trade talks.

Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT suggested during the latest episode of the “#thisleague UNCUT” podcast that Williams is a trade candidate to watch.

“There are some teams that are pondering making a move for Robert Williams,” Haynes said (hat tip to Blazer’s Edge). “Now, I know Robert Williams is out for the season, had another surgery on his right knee. But teams feel like he would be somebody they could get on the cheap right now and allow him to continue recovering, continue rehabbing in hopes that next season he can blossom back into the Robert Williams that we’ve seen when he was playing at a high level with the Boston Celtics.”

Williams was one of the players acquired by Portland in October’s Jrue Holiday deal with the Celtics. While he has shown some promise in his first few years in the NBA, he is still just 26 years old and is on a multiyear contract.

There was a sense that the Blazers could be willing to flip the big man to a new team, given that they already have their center of the future in Deandre Ayton. Haynes confirms that’s the case.

“The Blazers will be very open (to moving Williams),” Haynes said. “That’s not up for debate. They’ll be very open. If they feel like they can get the right deal in place, they’re open. The Blazers, they’re in a youth movement right now, so they have nothing but time on their side. Some players don’t fit the development arc of most of the youth they have on that team. Robert Williams is somebody who is definitely available, given the right price.”

While Haynes didn’t specify exactly which teams are potential suitors for Williams, he noted that Ime Udoka is “very fond” of the big man after coaching him in Boston and speculated that the Rockets could have interest.

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

• Discussing the Knicks‘ approach to the trade deadline on the “Katz and Shoot podcast,” Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports said Trail Blazers guard Malcolm Brogdon is the player he has heard most frequently linked to New York. Fred Katz of The Athletic cited Pistons guard Alec Burks as another player the Knicks had their eye on and confirmed the team has looked into Dejounte Murray, but isn’t sure whether that interest in the Hawks guard is serious or just a matter of the Knicks doing their due diligence.
• Murray, Bruce Brown, Terry Rozier, and Tyus Jones are potential Lakers trade targets to keep an eye on, Shams Charania of The Athletic said during FanDuel’s “Run it Back” show. The team’s interest in all four guards has been previously reported.
• Charania also confirms a previous report about the Lakers and Hawks discussing Murray, adding that a pick swap was part of those negotiations. The talks stalled due to Atlanta’s desire to reroute D’Angelo Russell to a third team, but Charania expects the two teams to resume those discussions before the trade deadline.
• Only one Wizards player is truly off-limits in trade talks at this season’s deadline, according to Charania: 2023 lottery pick Bilal Coulibaly. Washington would be open to inquiries on anyone else on the roster.

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